Volatile Oil of Platycladus Orientalis (L.) Franco Leaves Exerts Strong Anti-inflammatory Effects via Inhibiting the IκB/NF-κB Pathway.

This study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of volatile oil of Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco leaves (VOPF) and the underlying molecular mechanisms by using the non-infectious inflammation rat models and infectious inflammation mouse models. Ear swelling and intraperitoneal capillary permeability in mice, and carrageenan-induced toe swelling and cotton ball-induced granuloma in rats were used to reveal anti-inflammatory effects of VOPF. Moreover, the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mouse model of acute lung injury was used to explore the anti-inflammatory mechanism of VOPF. The results showed that VOPF could significantly inhibit auricular swelling, intraperitoneal capillary permeability in mice, and reduce granuloma swelling and paw swelling in rats. Furthermore, it significantly alleviated the pathological damage of the lung tissue. In addition, VOPF could reduce the contents of IL-1ß and TNF-α and increase the content of IL-10 in the serum. It had little effect on the expression of p65 but reduced the phosphorylation level of p65 and IκB in NF-κB pathway. In conclusion, VOPF has anti-inflammatory effects and the mechanisms involve the down-regulation of the phosphorylation levels of p65 and IκB and blockage of the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Chronological Changes of Viral Shedding in Adult Inpatients With COVID-19 in Wuhan, China.

BACKGROUND: In December 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) broke out in Wuhan. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 have been reported, but the relationships between laboratory features and viral load has not been comprehensively described. METHODS: Adult inpatients (≥18 years old) with COVID-19 who underwent multiple (≥5 times) nucleic acid tests with nasal and pharyngeal swabs were recruited from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, including general patients (n = 70), severe patients (n = 195), and critical patients (n = 43). Laboratory data, demographic data, and clinical data were extracted from electronic medical records. The fitted polynomial curve was used to explore the association between serial viral loads and illness severity. RESULTS: Viral load of SARS-CoV-2 peaked within the first few days (2-4 days) after admission, then decreased rapidly along with virus rebound under treatment. Critical patients had the highest viral loads, in contrast to the general patients showing the lowest viral loads. The viral loads were higher in sputum compared with nasal and pharyngeal swab (P = .026). The positive rate of respiratory tract samples was significantly higher than that of gastrointestinal tract samples (P < .001). The SARS-CoV-2 viral load was negatively correlated with portion parameters of blood routine and lymphocyte subsets and was positively associated with laboratory features of cardiovascular system. CONCLUSIONS: The serial viral loads of patients revealed whole viral shedding during hospitalization and the resurgence of virus during the treatment, which could be used for early warning of illness severity, thus improve antiviral interventions.

Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Bi-yuan-ling granules.

Bi-yuan-ling granule (BLG) is a traditional Chinese medicine compound composed mainly of baicalin and chlorogenic acid. It has been demonstrated to be clinically effective for various inflammatory diseases such as acute rhinitis, chronic rhinitis, atrophic rhinitis and allergic rhinitis. However, the underlying mechanisms of BLG against these diseases are not fully understood. This study aimed to explore the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of BLG, and examine its protective effects on mouse acute lung injury (ALI). The hot plate test and acetic acid-induced writhing assay in Kunming mice were adopted to evaluate the pain-relieving effects of BLG. The anti-inflammatory activities of BLG were determined by examining the effects of BLG on xylene-caused ear swelling in Kunming mice, the cotton pellet-induced granuloma in rats, carrageenan-induced hind paw edema and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) in mice. The results showed that BLG at 15.5 mg/g could significantly relieve the pain by 82.5% (P<0.01) at 1 h after thermal stimulation and 91.2% (P<0.01) at 2 h after thermal stimulation. BLG at doses of 7.75 and 15.5 mg/g reduced the writhing count up to 33.3% (P<0.05) and 53.4% (P<0.01), respectively. Additionally, the xylene-induced edema in mice was markedly restrained by BLG at 7.75 mg/g (P<0.05) and 15.5 mg/g (P<0.01). BLG at 5.35 and 10.7 mg/g significantly reduced paw edema by 34.8% (P<0.05) and 37.9% (P<0.05) at 5 h after carrageenan injection. The granulomatous formation of the cotton pellet was profoundly suppressed by BLG at 2.68, 5.35 and 10.7 mg/g by 15.4%, 38.2% (P<0.01) and 58.9% (P<0.001), respectively. BLG also inhibited lung W/D ratio and the release of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in ALI mice. In addition, the median lethal dose (LD50), median effective dose (ED50) and half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of BLG were found to be 42.7, 3.2 and 12.33 mg/g, respectively. All the findings suggest that BLG has significantly anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects and it may help reduce the damage of ALI.

Stimulative effects of Polygonum amplexicaule var. sinense on osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells.

CONTEXT: Polygonum amplexicaule D. Don var. sinense Forb. (Polygonaceae) (PAF) is a well known traditional herb used to treat some diseases, such as fractures, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle injury, and pain. However, its pharmacological mechanism of promoting the healing of fractures is still unknown. OBJECTIVE: The present study was designed to investigate the effects of PAF ethanol extracts on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cell in vitro, thereby to illuminate the pharmacological mechanism to promote the healing of fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effects of PAF ethanol extracts on MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation and differentiation were detected by using CCK-8, cell cycle, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) assays in vitro. RESULTS: The results showed that PAF ethanol extracts significantly stimulated cell proliferation at 0.1-100 µg/mL and the proportion of cells in S-phase increased from 16.33 to 27.29% in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells. Moreover, PAF ethanol extracts increased ALP expression in MC3T3-E1 cells at the concentration from 0.1 to 100 µg/mL and inhibited PGE(2) production induced by TNF-α in osteoblasts at the concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 µg/mL in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: These results indicated that PAF directly stimulates cell proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts; therefore, this study preliminarily explored the pharmacological mechanism of PAF to promote the healing of bone rheumatism and various fractures.

Emodin-8-O-ß-D-glucoside from Polygonum amplexicaule D. Don var. sinense Forb. promotes proliferation and differentiation of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells.

Polygonum amplexicaule D. Don var. sinense Forb. (Polygonaceae) (PAF) is a famous traditional herb used to treat fractures, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle injury and pain. The present study was designed to investigate a PAF derived-chemical compound emodin-8-O-ß-D-glucoside (EG) on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cell in vitro. A compound was isolated from PAF extract by HPLC and identified as emodin-8-O-ß-D-glucoside (EG) by spectroscopic methods. EG significantly promoted cell proliferation at 0.1-100 ng/mL, and increased the cell proportion in S-phase from 16.34% to 32.16%. Moreover, EG increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression in MC3T3-E1 cells at the concentration from 0.1 to 100 ng/mL and inhibited PGE(2 )production induced by TNF-α in osteoblasts at the concentrations ranging from 10-100 ng/mL, suggesting that cell differentiation was induced in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. Taken together, these results indicated compound EG directly stimulated cell proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts, therefore this study preliminarily explored the pharmacological mechanism of PAF to promote the healing of bone rheumatism and various fractures.

[Diagnostic value of complexed prostate-specific antigen for prostate cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical value of serum complexed prostate-specific antigen(cPSA) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa). METHODS: Serum samples were obtained from 110 men with untreated benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 78 men with untreated PCa. The levels of cPSA, total PSA (tPSA) were determined by autoimmunochemistry luminescence method. RESULTS: Both cPSA and cPSA/tPSA ratio were significantly different between patients with PCa and BPH (P < 0.005), especially, in men with tPSA values between 4.0-10.0 micrograms/L (the diagnostic gray zone). When cPSA/tPSA > or = 0.78 was taken as the cut-off value conjugated with tPSA < or = 10.0 micrograms/L, the sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value and positive predictive value were as high as 97.8%, 95.8%, 81.9% and 96.5%. CONCLUSIONS: With the introduction of cPSA and cPSA/tPSA ratio, early diagnosis of PCa by the assessment of tPSA has been made more sensitive and reliable, especially when the tPSA is within the diagnostic gray zone.

[Measurement and analysis of different serum PSA in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia].

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the stability of different serum prostate-specific antigens (PSA) in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and investigate their application value in the diagnosis of prostate disease. METHODS: One hundred and five patients with BPH were divided into 3 groups by their total PSA (tPSA) level, 67 in group A (tPSA < 4 micrograms/L), 26 in group B (4 micrograms/L < or = tPSA < or = 10 micrograms/L) and 12 in group C (tPSA > 10 micrograms/L). These patients were also divided into another 3 groups by age, 18 in group a (< or = 55 years old), 33 in group b (from 56 to 69 years old) and 54 in group c (> or = 70 years old). tPSA, free PSA (fPSA) and complexed PSA (cPSA) were measured by magnetism-particulate-immuno-chemistry luminescence method, the ratios of cPSA/tPSA, fPSA/tPSA, fPSA/cPSA were calculated in 105 patients with BPH, and their stabilities were compared in different tPSA level and age groups. RESULTS: The ratios of cPSA/tPSA, fPSA/tPSA and fPSA/cPSA were steadier than other PSAs in different tPSA level and age groups with BPH. CONCLUSION: The ratios of cPSA/tPSA, fPSA/tPSA and fPSA/cPSA probably have more application value in the diagnosis of prostate disease.